Piston ring



Patented Jane 24,' 1930A BERNARD YoUNG, or sAN PEDRO, CALIFORNIA rIsToNRING Appncmonalea my e, 192s. smal No. 361,299.

This invention relates to a` piston ring or packing used upon thepistons in internal Vor external combustion en nes, pumps, compressors,rams', rods, or t e like. This invention 'relatesf to a tensioncontrolled packing ring, anobject being to overn the pressuresA thatbuild up or exist bei ing rings when in operation, it being immaterialhow the pressure is conveyed back of 10 the rings.

Another object is to provide a ring which is made up of two or morecomponent parts, a wearing ring or rings which contacts with, forinstance, the walls of the cylinderA and makes a tight jointbetween thepiston and the cylinder walls, andsecondly, a control ring which holdsthe wearingriug or .rings in check or controls it.

A' further object is to so'split the forceexisting or entering behindthe ring so that it will perform work in opposite directions. Otherobjects, advantages, and features of invention may appear from theaccompanying draw' the'sub'oined detailed description,jan'd t e appen dclaims:

In the drawing:.

Figure 1 is aplan view of thewearing trol ring.

Figure is a transverse fragmentary sec-.- tional view of a pistonand'cylinder with my rings mounted inthe pisto Figure 4 is aVfragmentary' perspective view of the assembledring.

This ring operates on the theory that force Abehind'the rings or p ifrected in fopposite directions'so t at half the force is turned intoresistance, the ring will bein sus nsion or balance, all things lbeingequal. ehat is, friction and pressure on the area of both ringssusceptible to the force is equal. I am conceding thatequal areas movean equal distance whenpropelled by the same orequal forces, friction notbeing considered, and that the travel varies proportionatelyA to thechange in areas. By inscribing a mean circle onv each of the rings, thelength of the circle to equal rin .5 a re 2 is a bottom plan view of theconthe force, and then dividingthe circles into .a plurality of equalarcs, and then set these arcs lone against theother on the surface ofthe rings, so that the circles are balanced or suspended. Now applyingthis arrangement to both rings, one the- Wearing ring and the other thecontrol ring, we have a ring that is balancedl under pressure if theareas exposed to the pressure are equal.

Now decreasing the area of one ring I increase the travel of the otherproportionately to the amount of reduction of the area.

The friction between the rings including lthe grooves and shoulders hasan equal arca to work on and the friction on 'one ring should be thesame as the 'friction on the 65 other. It wouldseem that as the pressureincreases, the Wearing ring would be forced more tightly against .thecylinder wall but this increased force is reduced somewhat by thecorresponding increase in frictional resistance on the'lower faceof theWearing ring.

Referring more particularly t0 the drawing, my ring comprises two parts,the wearing ring r1 and the control ring2. lThese 75 two rin are ofexactly the same outside` and inside diameter. A mean c irclevis inscribed on the face of each of the rings and these two circles are vmadeto requal the force. Each circle is then divided into a plurality ofequal arcs, foi-example, in the drawing -I have divided'the circle' intoeight even arcs. Four of these arcs fromeach circle are then placed uponthe rings 1, 2 so that they are unclined oppositely. These arcs areevenly spaced and pitched around the face of the rings and then ontheface of the Wearing ring 1 IV cut groovesv 3 corresponding' to the arcslabove described, and on the face of the control ring 2 I provideshoulders 4, 90 Vthe shouldersfi being adapted t0 fit into the groves 3.It will be `seen that all of the arcs 3 and the'shoulders4 are-identicalin'length and in pitch andare equally spaced around the circumference ofthe rings. The purpose ofthe arcs which are drawn on the face of therings is merely to position vthe grooves and shoulders,- lboth as topitch and length, which are cut on the rings;

`The rings 1, A2 are placed together, as "100 shown in Figures 3 and 4,and are placed in the groove 5 of the piston 6. A duct 7 eX- tends fromadjacent the upper end of thepiston into the groove 5, thus admittingthe compression pressure of the engine to the inner face of the rings 1,2. The thickness of the control ring is varied to give the requiredpressure of the Wearing ring against the Wall of the cylinder and anyforce acting against the Wearing ring tending to expand it outwardlywill cause the control ring to move inwardly along the grooves, thustending to reduce the excessive outward pressure of the wearing ring.both the Wearing and control rings can be split at one point only or thesaid, rings can be cut into a plurality of equal segments, these cutsbeing shown at 8, and in that event the control ring is also cut intothe same number of segments by the cuts 9, but it is necessary that thecuts 9 shall not overlap the cuts 8. the ring would be ineffective.

There is an advantage of splitting thel rings into a plurality ofsegments because with this arrangement they are not subject to elasticstrains. It will be evident that as the Wearing ring expands or movesoutwardly that there Will be a squeezing or pinching action on thecontrol ring, tending to force the same inwardly, and meet the pressure,thus reducing or minimizing the ex )ansion ofthe Wearing ring. That isthe si es of the grooves in the wearing ring act upon the shoulders 4like a cam, and thus the radial movement of the control ring is oppositeto that of the wearing ring. The pressure on the wearing ring forcing itoutwardly will naturally increase the circumference of the ring. Thisincrease in circumference imparts a slight rotary movement to thesegments of the ring, which cams the control ring in the oppositedirection.

It would be seen that the wearing ring segments would carry the controlring segments with it but the control ring segments are oppositelyarranged to those of the wearing ring and a pinching action is going onsimultaneously all around the circle or ring, forcing the same inwardlybut the pressure will not letthe ring go 1n so far that the Wearing ringwill leave the face of thc cylinder.

Having described my invention, I claim:

1. A packing element, a wearing vring, a 4control ring, said wearingring having a plurality of oppositely directed arcuate grooves formed onthe face thereof, and said control ring being formed with a plurality ofarcuate shoulders adapted to fit into said grooves.

2. A packing element comprising a Wearing rin and a control ring, bothof said rings bemg divided into a plurality of equal segments, saidWearing ring having a plu- If desired,l

Otherwise, the action of" ladjacent the top thereof to said groove, saidpacking element comprising a plurality of superposed rings, one of saidrings being adapted to bear against the Wall of the cylinder, a controlring, and means connecting said first named ring and the control rinwhereby the movement of said first name ring is counteracted by thecontrol ring.

L4. In a pistonhaving aring groove therein, a packing element in said.groove, said piston having a duct therein extending from adjacent thetop thereof to said groove, said packing element comprising a pluralityof superposed rings, one of saidrin'gs being adapted to bear against'the wall of the cyli inder, a control ring, and means connecting saidfirst named ring and the control ring whereby the movement of said firstnamed ring is counteracted by the control ring, saidmeans comprising aplurality of oppositely pitched arcuate shoulders on the control ring,said rst named ring having a plurality of arcuate oppositely pitchedGrooves formed therein into which sald shoulders are adapted to fit.

In testimony whereof, I'alix my signa.

ture.

BERNARD YOUNG.

